


Brotherhood

by Peacockery



Category: Undertale
Genre: Affection, Brotherly Love, Childhood Memories, Fluff, Pre-Canon, Prequel, Sibling Bonding, Sick Character, Skeleton brothers - Freeform, Skeletons, monster children
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 15:22:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15052148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peacockery/pseuds/Peacockery
Summary: Sick in bed, a young Papyrus hears the infamous Fluffy Bunny tale for the first time, as delivered by his doting big brother.





	Brotherhood

**Author's Note:**

> Still love Undertale, and still love the skeleton brothers.
> 
> Just wanted to write a quickshot of them being cute and adorable together as kids. :)

“...and past the garden gate we see a big, big patch of carrots. so many carrots. is fluffy bunny hiding there?”

There was a light wiggle against his side. Sans’ lazy grin stretched, and he lowered the book for his little brother to see. The small skeleton sniffled and leaned in, squinting at the splotch of colors on the page while hugging his white dog plush closer to him; it almost was as big as he was.

Papyrus had been confined to the bed all day due to coming down with a case of the Rattles, much to the little guy’s dismay. That meant no preschool, no tromping around in the snow, and no more cartoons for the day. It was night time now, and that meant time for sleep for growing bones. Of course, his little bro had been quite the politician on the matter: he would stay in bed for good ONLY if Sans could read him the new storybook that had made its way upon his bookshelf. Pinky promise.

Ever patient (and perhaps a bit sleepy himself), Sans waited while Papyrus huffed to himself while scanning the page. Finally, he pushed the book back with a small whine as he shivered. 

“...icnsrrrr…”

Sans quirked a brow as he chuckled.

“what’s that, bro?” He looped an arm around his brother to give him an encouraging little shake. “i’d say i’m all ears, but…” Ever the comedian, he was. One day he was gonna be an A-Class punchliner, or maybe a hotdog salesman. The kids in his grade thought the same of him either way despite the glaring contrast in his attitude and report cards. Sans was smart, but he also wasn’t pushy; he knew Paps was agitated from being bedridden. As expected, his efforts only riled up the impatient patient even more.

“I SAID I CAN’T SEE HER.” Papyrus wailed in a screech that tightened Sans’ jaw. The kid had a voice, that was undeniable. Maybe when he got older he could bark so loud that the Surface would hear it and come to the rescue with pickaxes. If only...but he believed that his little bro would grow up to do amazing things. He was already amazing now, wrapped up in a small little package. Sans smiled warmly despite the outburst, nudging his brother in closer to give him a fond squeeze.

“hey, it’s ok, paps. we’ll find her together.”

“Where is she, Sans?” Papyrus whined, back at a controlled volume again. He furrowed his small brows at the carefree shrug his older sibling gave. Unacceptable- Sans was 12! Big boys knew all sorts of profound and deep things, like how not to clog sinks and the best places to place whoopie cushions. 12 was bigger than 4, just as Miss Flops had said last week at school. Papyrus disliked being so little still, as if being 4 was a crime. It was a crime he had to stay in bed all day with his stuffed animals, and not playing with his action figures or making angels out in the snow. Out there, he could be whatever he wanted. A king of pinecones, a snow puppy...he ruled the snow, and he made sure everyone in Snowdin knew it. Ever since the day they first showed up out of seemingly nowhere…

In here, he felt so miserable. But Sans was the comfort that made his sickly bones rattle not as badly. He pushed his stuffed dog down into his lap so that he could sit straight up and cross his arms. 

“Tell me!” He yipped, determined to look big and convincing. His brother laughed and rubbed the top of his skull. 

“dunno, bro. this is my first time reading this too.” 

Sans leaned back against the headframe of the racecar bed, dragging his defiant little other down with him. Papyrus wailed but gave in, letting loose another violent shiver as his ailment bled through again. Poor little guy. Fortunately, a big brother peck to the side of his temple was enough to satiate the restless monster child for just a bit longer. Satisfied, the older skeleton propped the book back up upon the cusp of his ribs and angled it to a primed position, and continued reading.

“not in the carrot patch. maybe she is hiding in the big red barn?” He glanced down to regard Papyrus, who was listening a bit more closely this time. He waited for a few seconds for the other to skim the page and make his own quiet deductions, before he continued.

“let’s see if fluffy bunny is ins-” 

“Why is it red?”

Sans blinked. That was a good question. He had found this book while playing in the dump near Waterfall, so it wasn’t like he was an expert on what barns looked like. Maybe the humans upstairs had barns that were red.

“uh….I dunno, pap.”

“It’s so angry.” Papyrus squinted at the jarring color amidst the pleasant greenery and blue farm tools. 

Sans waited for him again, amused. Once the bedspace was quiet again did he continue. He turned the page.

“what a big barn! there are so many tools and big bales of hale around...but where is fluffy bunny? is she behind the big wheelbarrow?”  
“Why is there so much hay?” Papyrus piped up again. Sans clicked his teeth. That was a toughie, too. Down here, nobody used the stuff.

He tried to think of a good reasoning, but he could feel the expecting heat of two eye sockets burning into the side of his cheekbone. Chuckling sheepishly, he tapped his fingers against the book cover while staring at the page.

“well...for eatin’. you don’t think bunnies eat only carrots, right?”

Papyrus pouted. He shivered again and bundled up tighter under his blanket, grunting to himself as he wiggled against his brother to find the warmest patch of bed he could occupy. Once he finally settled down again, the young monster had his skull nestled against the armpit of his big brother’s shirt. 

“The bunnies at the store eat sugar rolls…” he contested, squinting at the picturebook. Why would a rabbit eat hay? Although it did look like a giant bundle of uncooked noodles…”Do bunnies like spaghetti?”

It was a ludicrous question, but then again...they lived in a ludicrous world. Sans grinned as he turned the page, feeling his chest grow warm from the heat of his soul. His brother was the most precious thing alive. 

“heh, they’d be pretty “hoppy” to eat spaghetti.”

“SANS!”

“hehe, don’t get “saucy” with me now, bro…”

He had to wince up from the frustrated slapping those little hands could do against his shoulder. Even if he was a small child, Papyrus was very precise and tactical. His little brother fumbled to grab his stuffed dog again, holding it close as he whined into it. Sans put the book down place his hand on the little guy’s forehead, frowning. The sickness didn’t seem to be letting up much.

“We can always finish this another time…” If his baby brother wasn’t in the mood for jokes and fun, then he couldn’t blame him. Being sick sucked. He was about to close the book for good when he felt those small fingers tugging on his shirt again. A small smile began to grow on his jawline once more as he glanced down to see the small pout Papyrus was giving up at him.

“We gotta find Fluffy Bunny, Sans…” He whimpered in his adorable squeaky voice. He succumbed to yet another rattling shiver, almost crying out into the fur of his toy when the discomfort became too much. Sans made a mental note to give him another dose of medicine once the story was finished. Papyrus shyly looked back up to him. The two brothers shared a smile, a nod and a small huff of determination before continuing. Papyrus was sitting upright by himself this time, playing with the ear of his toy dog while watching his brother flipping the page. He listened to the new instructions while taking in the upper level of the barn, looking around to see if he could find her ears amid more bales of hay and bags of grain. Once he gave his analysis, Sans turned the page again. The back of the barn was now on display, full of sunflowers, a tractor and a dog house. 

“...where could fluffy bunny be?”

“I SEE HER!” 

Sans winced again at the shrill voice, but chuckled while angling the page closer to his brother. Papyrus tapped triumphantly at the tractor.

“hm, good guess. why do you say there?”

“Because tractors don’t have feet, silly!”

Sans leaned in himself, chuckling at the revelation. Sure enough, a pair of white bunny paws were visible next to one of the tractor wheels.

“you sure?”

Papyrus huffed again. “Yes!”

“i dunno, pap, it looks like white boots to me…”

“SANS!”

Sans mused as he turned to the next page. “oh look, it’s fluffy bunny’s nephew, tuffy bunny! tuffy is trying to fix the tractor. But where could fluffy bunny be?” He tried to hold it in after hearing the comical thump of his brother falling back against his pillow in frustration.

Together they read the story until the almost-very end. By the time Sans had his finger on the last page he realized that there was a strange lack of communication next to him. Glancing over, his sockets fell to a fond half lidded state upon seeing that his little brother had succumbed to sleep. Perhaps laying back on his soft pillow while holding that snuggly toy of his wasn’t the smartest idea...Sans closed the book and carefully leaned over the edge of the bed to place it on the floor. He debated on leaving to give his sick brother some space and peace while he recuperated. One more look at Papyrus convinced him otherwise.

So small and vulnerable...one day, his brother was going to be big and strong. He just had that feeling. But for now, Papyrus was only four years old. He was sick and frail and afraid of being alone without his big brother by his side despite his usual stubborn fussing. So, Sans chose against leaving. The older child reached to pull up his side of the blankets, drawing them over himself while shifting to face the smaller monster. He watched the little guy for a few minutes, moving to adjust the stuffed dog so that its ears weren’t flopping in his brother’s face. He stroked Pap’s skull whenever the sick child winced and whined whenever the sickness shook him again. 

“you’re gonna be alright, pap.” He mumbled so quietly that even he had a hard time hearing himself. Slowly, his own sockets closed, and he exhaled peacefully.

**Author's Note:**

> Questions or curious to see more? Check out my writing blog!
> 
> Socks-on-parade.tumblr.com


End file.
